If I Could Start Over, I Would Have Skipped Sunday More Often

(This post is the fifth in a series I’ve been working on over the past few weeks talking about things I would have done differently if I could start our church plant over again.) Now, I know some people are thinking, “Skip Sunday? But isn’t that the only day you work? Thanks. Clearly I’ve not […]

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by bob

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Oct 13, 2011

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(This post is the fifth in a series I’ve been working on over the past few weeks talking about things I would have done differently if I could start our church plant over again.)

Now, I know some people are thinking, “Skip Sunday? But isn’t that the only day you work? Thanks.

Clearly I’ve not been at every Sunday service…I have taken vacations consistently since we started the church…but beyond that, I’ve generally been here whether or not I’ve been speaking. And every pastor worth their salt knows that there are certain weeks it is okay for you to miss (4th of July weekend, Memorial Day weekend, the first Sunday in January, the Sunday after Thanksgiving); and there are certain weeks, you not only have to be there, you as the lead person, MUST be the speaker (Easter, most Sundays in the fall, generally any Sunday where you’re going to have a lot of people, or especially a lot of new people.)

Over the years there have been various family events that our family has missed because our families didn’t understand these rules and would schedule big event on Sundays where Liz & I HAD to be at the Vineyard. Because what if new people came and we weren’t there? (that sounds even worse writing it down that it sounded in my head for the past several years.)

At you might guess, that was a lot of weight to carry around, and it got pretty exhausting after a while. And it wasn’t even a weight that I was supposed to be carrying.

This past weekend our family left Ithaca and drove to Connecticut for the Columbus day weekend. We actually woke up on Friday, having no idea where we were going (if my new passport arrived in the mail we were going to Montreal. It didn’t.) We left on Friday, slept in Saturday & Sunday…and basically went through all 3 days with no agenda, no plans, and nothing we had to do. And it was great! We hung out on the beach, walked around Mystic, and didn’t accomplish anything other than spending time with each other.

And while we were there, I missed two morning services in Ithaca…I missed our second service at the Haunt on Sunday night (don’t I know how important it is that I’m there when we are trying to get something like this off the ground?) And everything is still standing. The Ithaca Vineyard lost nothing, & my family gained something really important. Good trade.

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What about Bob?

bob

I grew up in Western New York and have started and led missional church planting efforts for a little over 30 years. As you might gather, I have opinions about the church, and I share some of them here.

It is said doctors make the worst patients. So, when I visit a church, I work at being positive and noticing the good. At the same time, I believe it is crucial to critique what we, as the church, do. In Ireland, just as in the States, the fastest growing religious group is the “Nones”. While you can find a lot out there blaming the Nones, the ex-vangelicals, or those who are deconstructing their faith, for why fewer people attend church than did previously, I believe the first place we need to look is at ourselves.

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